largest, in numbers of students and in the dent apartments above, a student residence size of frontage, is Northeastern University. building that is 375 feet long, and a 13- At the time, Northeastern was vigorously story tower. In total, the West Campus has expanding on-campus residential housing 1,900 new student beds. for its 14,000 students. Richard Freeland, How do these educational buildings Northeastern University who became president of the university in influence the economic development of 1996, identified the importance of the Boston? The original ten acres of parking and Boston’s Avenue of the Arts as highly visible to a lots constituted a huge “missing tooth” in Avenue of the Arts broad cross-section of Boston-area resi- the urban fabric of this neighborhood. dents and an important element in a strat- This vacant space acted as a barrier egy to celebrate the “new” Northeastern. between three neighborhoods: the Freeland wanted to demonstrate to Boston Fenway, Mission Hill, and Roxbury. that Northeastern was changing in hopes With the creation of an intense and dense that Boston, in turn, would tell its nieces new campus populated by 1,900 stu- and nephews in Philadelphia, Washington dents, 24/7 for 12 months a year D.C., and even Florida and California (Northeastern has a very active summer about this dynamic university. semester), a sense of urban activity and Northeastern hired William Rawn security now permeates the area. An urban university IN 2000, WHEN Boston mayor Associates in 1997 to create a master plan In addition, the massive investment by Thomas Menino renamed Huntington for its West Campus. Not content merely Northeastern has encouraged investment expands its campus, Avenue the Avenue of the Arts, his inten- to expand, Northeastern wanted to sup- by other institutions. For example, the tion was to celebrate the role of the arts on port the surrounding city. A campus plan- MFA will soon break ground on a $190 taking into account a major boulevard that linked Symphony ning strategy thus became an economic million first phase of a multi-phased Hall, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), and development strategy far broader than expansion project; nearby Wentworth the surrounding city. and several cultural and educational insti- the university. Institute and the Massachusetts College of tutions, and to create a catalyst for eco- The new West Campus consists of Art have both expanded their facilities; and nomic development along what had seven buildings that have opened since the MBTA (Boston’s subway system) has become a moribund avenue. The first part September 1999, totaling more than one completed a total renovation of its of the initiative was easy: it gave promi- million square feet with more than $300 Huntington Avenue line. Private-sector nence to a group of already existing insti- million in construction costs. An eighth investment in retail and residential uses has tutions. The second—economic develop- building is under construction. The six followed. ment—was a greater challenge, one that buildings designed by William Rawn Private initiatives are following more would take years to accomplish. Associates include one that is 16 stories slowly. New retail, for reasons cited below, Several institutions of higher education high, consisting of a school of computer has been slow in coming. A new restaurant WILLIAM RAWN front on the Avenue of the Arts. By far the sciences on the lower four floors and stu- has opened a half a block from the West 27 26 ZELL/LURIE REAL ESTATE CENTER REVIEW Campus. Farther down the street, to the Architectural design has been central welcoming devices to the general public Architecture plays a prominent role in east, several retail locations have been to Northeastern’s strategy. Campus plan- include: open entry corners, such as the joining the campus and the surrounding measurably upgraded. While no new office ning principles required that active public one at 34th and Walnut Streets at city. The two very large portals (one four buildings have appeared, privately spaces, both inside and outside the build- University of Pennsylvania; specially stories high) that lead into the campus are financed biochemistry and pharmaceutical ings, be prominently visible from the adja- designed retail spaces, such as that found prominent connections to the city, open- laboratories have been built nearby (the cent sidewalks and streets. Buildings are at the Center for British Art at Yale; a sys- ing views from the street into an interior major Longwood Medical Area is less than built close to the street and celebrate that tem of open gates like those around quadrangle that is full of student activity. a mile away). All this reflects a confidence closeness. Lounges, student activity Harvard Yard; and the three- and four- One portal leads to a major subway stop in this previously moribund stretch of spaces, and recreation spaces line the story portals at Northeastern. One cannot near the center of the campus, thereby Huntington Avenue. Ten years from now, street. These public spaces create “eyes on be too subtle at these thresholds between encouraging the general public to enter the impact will surely be more clear. the street,” increasing the overall sense of campus and city. and pass through the university. A conven- Obviously, retail can play a role here. security. Simultaneously, the common While some universities have debated ience store facing the interior of the quad- However, two factors suggest specific care spaces in the buildings are visible from the the question of “opening up” to the sur- rangle is open to the public, thereby should be exercised in counting solely on street, generating a greater sense of visible rounding community, the debate at increasing the sense that the university is retail as a connective tissue. First, strong connection between town and gown. Northeastern was settled before it began. open and accessible to all. The conven- retail requires a strong market. Given the Security throughout Northeastern is locat- More than 100 years ago, Northeastern ience store is operated by Wollaston’s, a fact that college students do not have large ed at the front door of each residence hall. started as an adjunct to the YMCA, and chain that had a store in another precinct spending power and that affluent or upper- The campus grounds are always open. then evolved into a subway commuter of the campus. The West Campus store class neighborhoods have been pushed Campuses are best linked to the sur- school. Its roots are so deep in the city serves more than 2,500 students who live away from campus edges by the less desir- rounding city by obvious visual connec- that any suggestion of separation was in apartment-style residence halls, many of able affordable rental housing market, tions. The traditional open quadrangles viewed as sacrilege. whom are not on the school’s meal plan, as there may not be a sufficiently strong mar- of major public universities, such as the On many residential campuses, the well as many non-student residents. In ket to support extensive retail. Second, a University of North Carolina at Chapel students become only inwardly focused. essence, this residential customer base rep- rule of successful shopping streets in the Hill and the University of Alabama in However, on Northeastern’s West resents a “neighborhood” large enough to United States (and most countries) is that Tuscaloosa, serve as a visual connection to Campus, just as the city has been wel- support a store. they are two-sided, with stores on both automobile traffic passing by. The large comed to the campus through architectur- A 16-story tower has become the new sides. People prefer to shop by walking lawns and open spaces of the University al devices, the students have been pushed university landmark on the city’s skyline. down one side of the street and returning of Virginia and the University of into the city through the same thresholds. The most prominent feature of this build- on the other. Since university buildings Michigan function similarly. In dense Northeastern’s urban location and its well ing is an all-glass façade that faces the often occupy one side of a street (without urban settings, such linkages, because recognized co-operative education pro- Avenue of the Arts. At night, four stories of retail at their base), shopping streets on the they are dimensionally smaller, must be gram have served to actively engage stu- public corridors and lounge spaces of the edge of a campus are often one-sided. (The given stronger iconic importance, in dents with the city. This engagement School of Computer Science are bril- success at Harvard Square, Cambridge, essence to counteract the inevitable walls moves far beyond the lively bars and liantly lit, less than 20 feet from the side- and Walnut Street in West Philadelphia are of buildings that separate internal green restaurants that mark the edges of many walk. The upper 12 floors are student exceptions to this rule.) space from surrounding streets. Iconic urban campuses. apartments with all-glass walls (the bed- 28 ZELL/LURIE REAL ESTATE CENTER REVIEW 29 Figure 1: Northeastern University: a bea- lected part of Huntington Avenue. This con on the avenue connectivity, this re-creation of a vital and vigorous urban fabric, this celebration of a permeable and transparent and thus acces- sible face of a major University, all suggest The West a framework for the economic develop- ment of the area over the coming decade. Philadelphia Story That this was developed as a non-profit institution’s vigorous investment in its neighborhood in only seven years is remarkable, as is the sense that these build- ings are leading to a turn-around of the economic fortunes of this important part of Boston.